Medical Video and Podcast

Abstract

Media content has been undergoing major changes in the past couple of years due to the changing nature of the Internet and the way consumers follow media channels. Media has been centered around video and audio content instead of text. This notion was further underscored when the Person of the Year award was given to “You”, the users of Internet, by TIME magazine and the award was illustrated by an online video player as one of the most essential components of social media.

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Media content has been undergoing major changes in the past couple of years due to the changing nature of the Internet and the way consumers follow media channels. Media has been centered around video and audio content instead of text. This notion was further underscored when the Person of the Year award was given to “You”, the users of Internet, by TIME magazine and the award was illustrated by an online video player as one of the most essential components of social media [1].

On the 23rd of April, 2005 the first video was uploaded on a new website designed for showing and collecting videos contributed by users. It was called Youtube which was acquired by Google in 2006 and went through several steps of development before becoming the most popular video browser in the world. The most popular video ever uploaded to Youtube has over 1.6 billion viewers as of June, 2013 [2] (Table 13.1).

Table 13.1 Main developments and timeline of Youtube.com

Users can upload videos up to 15 min each in duration, but users with a good track record of complying with the site’s Community Guidelines may upload videos up to 12 h in length. Youtube channels must be assigned to Google accounts which allow users to collect videos around a particular topic. In order to launch a Youtube channel, the creation of a new user account is advised. A Youtube channel with medical content should contain specific pieces of information:

• Full name of the author/curator

• Affiliation and location

• Proper name and description of the channel

• Contact information

• A proper banner which can be placed on top of the channel with additional information about the practice, topic or institution.

Materials with copyright should not be uploaded and videos must always follow the community guidelines set by Youtube. An important information about uploaded videos is that users retain copyrights as stated in the Terms of Service [4]:

• For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your Content. However, by submitting Content to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and YouTube’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.

Good examples of medical Youtube channels give a hint about the creation of a new channel (Table 13.2).

Table 13.2 Examples of medical Youtube channels

The most viewed medical video has had over 160 million views as of February, 2013; and it is about the video stroboscopy of the vocal cords [5].

Reasons of getting closer to Youtube as a medical professional include the fact that Youtube is now the second largest search engine online [6]; a large number of medical video channels can be found there; doctors and patients have already been using it for medicine-related purposes [7].

Alternative Sites for Videos

There are other sites in which user generated video content can be uploaded and shared. Examples include Ustream (http://www.ustream.tv), Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/) and Justin.tv (http://www.justin.tv/). Ustream and Justin.tv also allow users to broadcast events or presentations live.

Medical Video Sites

Since the launch of Youtube, many other websites featuring video content but specifically in medicine and healthcare have appeared. Usually such websites have a proper medical disclaimer stating the education nature of the content instead of giving medical advice; clear privacy policy, site description and the fact that the videos are intended for medical professionals only. There are video sites for only medical professionals in peer-to-peer communication; for patient education and for self-learning (Table 13.3).

Table 13.3 Examples of medical video sites

Videos created by medical professionals for any of the above mentioned reasons should be of good quality, contain only appropriate content and targeted for the specific audiences. Things to consider before uploading a video online include:

• whether the content of the video is appropriate

• whether it should be available in a public or in a private way (uploaded videos on Youtube can be marked as public or private which can only be seen by users getting access to that)

• whether patient information is removed from the video

Podcasts in Medicine and Healthcare

A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of files (either audio or video) subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication. Audio podcasts became popular as through them users can listen to articles, texts, posts or research findings via MP3 files or other format instead of reading those in front of the screen.

For this reason, numerous medical journals and organizations have embraced this technology and have been providing their followers with regular podcasts (Table 13.4).

Table 13.4 Examples of medical podcasts

Directories of medical podcasts are available online and constantly updated [8–10].

Creating and sharing quality podcasts featuring non-personal information about medical conditions with patients in a private way may save time for medical professionals as well as help build a relationship with the patient based on trust. Wendy Sue Swanson, MD publishes such materials in the form of podcasts or videos in order to educate her patients [11]; while Mike Sevilla, MD launched the first online medical radio show, the Dr. Anonymous Show which later was changed to Family Medicine Rocks creating a respected online presence for him [12].

Creating Podcasts

Several platforms enable users to create podcast channels such as BlogTalkRadio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/), PodBean (http://www.podbean.com/) or PodOmatic (http://www.podomatic.com). Otherwise recording can be performed with a simple audio recorder or even with Skype and the mp3 files can be shared.

Creating a channel usually requires the audio file, a title, short description and a category. It is advised to choose platforms on which podcasts can be accessed for free.

Communicating with the Media

The rise of social media led to larger exposure for medical professionals and as the members of traditional media such as reporters or newswriters also use these channels for gathering information, a few suggestions may facilitate building a proper relationship with them.

• Be open and available: reporters tend to choose interviewees who are easy to reach online.

• Do not underestimate their medical knowledge, instead try to assist them in their work with additional resources and pieces of information.

• Always make sure to see the final version before publication and use written discussions (e.g. archived e-mails) to prove your point later on if needed.

• Try to get questions or interest areas before an interview. It is a mutual goal to be prepared for an interview.

Self-Test

• 1. What information should a medical Youtube channel contain?

  Full name of the author/curator, affiliation and location; and contact information.

• 2. Who owns the rights of the uploaded videos on Youtube?

  Users retain all of the ownership rights in their content.

• 3. Why would a medical professional create a podcast?

  To share non-personal information about medical conditions with patients in a private way saving time and building a relationship with the patient.

Key Points

• Media content has been undergoing major changes due to the way consumers follow media channels.

• Youtube is the second largest search engine and features a large number of medical video channels.

• Websites featuring video content but specifically in medicine and healthcare have appeared.

• A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of a series of audio or video files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication.